Page 41 of Scotch & Dreams

Their day and night together had been so good, despite the circumstances. No, not good, epic, definitely epic. As time went on, she wondered if it was only she who had thought it was incredible. After all, horses, scotch, and a castle-like home were his norm. More than likely, he had women lined up for that crooked grin and charm and maybe the deep conversations, too. She had felt like there was something special between them, but maybe she was wrong.

Violet knew she should get past it, move on. But Mr. GQ was present in her thoughts more than she wished. "Ugh, but he's my knight in shining armour,” she whined on the phone to her best friend Sierra as she sat on the bed in her Airbnb, trying to put on her makeup using the mirror stand she'd bought that was clearly meant for a solid surface and not a lumpy bed.

“Seriously, I don’t care how dreamy he is.He’s just not that into you, which means he isnotyour knight. Sorry for the tough love, babe, but it’s been a month now. If he wanted to see you again, he would have.”

“I'm sure I put my number on the note I left.” Violet started to second-guess herself, pausing midway through streaking on her eyeliner.

"Of course you did. No one writes a ‘thanks for the night before, the morning after’ note and forgets to put their phone number on it."

"Right." She bit her lip. "Maybe he lost it?"

"Babes, if he wanted to see you again, he would have found a way. He knows the Airbnb you are staying at."

“True. All right, all right. I get it. He would’ve connected.” She sighed heavily in resignation. “Crap."

“Aww, Vi, forget about him. You went to Scotland with dreams in your heart. Follow them, and forget about the boy.”

“I know, you are so right." Violet knew it was true. She'd been far too distracted with fantasies about Lachlan. It was time to move on. "Fine, that’s it. I’m done! No more waiting, hoping, pining, daydreaming about Mr. Not-So-Wonderful-After-All. Done. Back to my life and the reason I’m here. I have goals to achieve, dreams to follow, life to live!”

“There ya go. That’s right, you do! How’s the styling business, anyway?”

“Slow, but there's hope. I landed my first client. She works in advertising and feels like she’s not making the best impression with her wardrobe." Violet mimicked the way the woman had said it to her. "She’s exactly the type of client I want to work with, I just hope I can get more like her.”

“It’s a start, at least. How’d you get that one?”

“Randomly. We met at the coolest little coffee shop, literally a hole in the wall." Violet chuckled. “She gushed over my shoes, and it went from there.”

“Jeepers, well, I guess that’s one way to snag in potential clients: keep going to charming little dives and luring them in with your killer wardrobe.”

The two women laughed.

“Ah, I wish it was always this easy. It’s a start, though. In other news, I got a job at a horse sanctuary.”

“Sorry, you what?”

Violet could practically see Sierra’s confused expression. She had to admit, it did sound strange, even to her.

“Um, it’s just sort of a side thing. I don’t know, I thought I’d try it out to make a little extra money while I get my business going. And you know I adore horses.”

“What are you going to be doing? Like mucking out stables?” Sierra scoffed.

“No, no. Well, I don’t think so. It’s supposed to be a place for kids to go to be around horses, ride them, or groom them. That sort of thing. I'm not sure of much yet, but anything to do with horses, I'm in. I suppose whatever they need.”

“Does it pay well?”

Violet laughed. "What do you think? I mean, considering I don't even really know what I'm doing yet, it is more than minimum wage, so that's good.”

“So you're side hustle is a random job with horses?” Sierra clarified as if she didn’t quite believe it.

“Yeah, sure. Why not?”

“No, that’s fine. I’m just surprised. I thought if you did anything on the side, it might be working in the fashion world. Or at least something that pays well.”

Violet was very aware that her savings would only take her so far, but she was confident it would all work out eventually. “Right, well, I don’t know. It just sounded good at the time. Nobody says I have to stay there. But I need something to do in my spare time, and I get to go riding as often as I wish, which is pretty wicked. I don’t even need Mr. GQ’s horses. He can keep them. I’ve found my own!”

Sierra chuckled. "That’s right. You don’t need his stinkin’ horses. I mean, that’s probably the only reason you even liked him. He’s got no pull on you now you've found yourownhorses.”

“Oh my God, Sierra, I frickin’ miss you!” She looked in her tilted mirror for a final check and zipped closed her makeup bag.

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